SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC

by Reginald Pound ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 3, 1967

A portrait of the polar explorer as Hamlet, this is a tragic and deeply affecting story which should be widely read. Robert Falcon Scott, who opened ""the heroic age of antarctic exploration,"" was acclaimed at his death as one of the chief British figures of the century. How he met his death is perhaps even more extraordinary than where he met it. Scott made two expeditions to the South Pole. The first was not successful in achieving the pole but prepared the way for his second attempt some ten years later. Despite the glory that descended on him from his first expedition, Scott remained an often melancholy, despondent man until his marriage with a rather Bohemian sculptress. By the time he'd written up his two-volume account of the first try and mounted his second expedition, other explorers were hot for the fame of being first at the pole. Scott, though, calmly organized his push to bring back as much scientific knowledge as possible. When, after incredible difficulty, he arrived at the pole, dismally awaiting him was a Norwegian flag placed by a glory-hunter with no interest in science. Scott and his crew perished on the way back, but his magnificent journal leading up to the final moments of death was recovered. Widely quoted herein, its heartbreak and courage are stunning.

Pub Date: May 3, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward-McCann

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1967

Categories: NONFICTION